The Power of Words

25 Jun The Power of Words

Bad days. Nobody likes to have them, but they do happen every now and again. Perhaps you start off your day late for work and then everything just starts to go down hill from there. Possibly someone close to you received some bad health news, and now you’re worried about them. It could be that you may wake up not feeling very good and then you take it out on someone else and inevitably make them feel bad, which makes you feel bad for making them feel bad. Or maybe someone says something negative to you and then you dwell on it the rest of the day, which ends up making your day bad.

If you think about it, words are the source of a lot of our bad days. A few negative words can throw your entire day for a loop…

“You’re fired.”

“I don’t love you anymore.”

“You have an obnoxious laugh.”

“No one even likes you.”

“You can never do anything right.”

From childhood we’re taught that we shouldn’t be hurt by words…

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

Sound familiar? Whoever came up with this little saying seemed to only get the first part of it right. Sticks and stones do have the power to break your bones, but what they didn’t include was the part that words can have the power to break your spirit, which can be just as detrimental. Bones are important, but the stuff that isn’t physical is important too. Something that doesn’t take a physical form shouldn’t be able to hurt us, but they do. Words really can hurt.

So yes, many times it just takes a few words to ruin somebody’s day. Words can hurt you enough to bring darkness into your day. But if words have that kind of power then they should also have enough power to add some lightness in there as well…

“You have such a pretty smile!”

“I love your outfit!”

“You’re very talented!”

“You’re such a good role model.

“You have the most positive attitude!”

The nice words that you say don’t even have to be that transformative (often times it’s the simplest things that do the most good). And many times the words don’t even have to be related to the problem at hand because saying one nice thing to somebody (no matter what the compliment is) can be enough to make their day a little bit better. It may even have enough power to change their entire day around for the better.

Try and remember the last time you had a bad day. Maybe somebody said something to you to make it a little bit better, or maybe somebody didn’t. If they did, remember how much better those few words made you feel. Wouldn’t you want to give somebody else that gift if you had the opportunity?

And it doesn’t even have to be a gift that you need to give to somebody that you know. If somebody looks a little down (whether you know them or not), saying a few kind words could be just what they need to make their day a little brighter. Even if someone doesn’t look like they’re having a bad day, it doesn’t hurt to say something nice to somebody if the mood hits. Some people wear their emotions on their sleeves and you can tell right a way if they’re having a good day or a bad day. Other people keep their emotions tucked a way, and so you can’t tell if they’ve been having a bad day. If you run into one of those people who don’t express their emotions openly then you won’t be able to tell if they need cheering up or not. And just because someone keeps their emotions to themselves doesn’t mean that they don’t need cheering up every now and again, so why not give a compliment to someone in the off chance that they happen to be one of those people who are having a bad day but who has decided to keep their emotions to themselves. And even if someone is having a perfectly amazing day where everything is going their way, a few kind words can make their already amazing day even brighter. Positive thinker, it doesn’t cost you anything to give a compliment or to say something kind to someone, so why not do it?

Spread positivity positive thinker. Pass on a few kind words today.

Because, “One kind word can change someone’s entire day.”

You have the chance to make a positive difference in someone’s life just by being kind.